I’ve dreamed of Africa ever since I was a small child. The landscapes, the charismatic wildlife, and especially the reptiles loomed large in my imagination. The land of killer crocodiles, incredible venomous snakes, and the “big five” fascinated me. Going there seemed like a remote possibility, but I held on to the hope of one day visiting this amazing continent.
When the opportunity to go to Uganda with a friend of mine appeared, I cautiously began researching the possibility but tried not to get my hopes up. The opportunity to search for species like the Gaboon Viper seemed like a dream too good to be true. But the more I researched, the more it looked like it could work. I got some local guide recommendations from herpers who had been there before, got in touch with one, and started planning for what I hoped would be the trip of a lifetime.
The months between buying my plane ticket and heading to the airport seemed like forever, but the day finally arrived and I was off on my first trip outside North America. Due to the time change, we left on a Saturday evening (Miami time) and arrived early on Monday morning (Uganda time). I only got 3 or 4 hours of sleep over those two nights combined and felt completely exhausted on arrival, but we got right to herping, fueled by adrenaline. We hiked around some agricultural areas and ventured into a small patch of rainforest, but day one yielded only a couple of small lizards.
Day two arrived and the weather seemed even better than the day before. Since it was the rainy season, sunshine was scarce and any sun peeking through the clouds might encourage reptiles to bask. We started the day in another patch of rainforest and then transitioned into more agricultural land. Before long we spotted our first snake, one of the species I least expected to see on this trip: a Forest Twig Snake (Thelatornis kirtlandii). It is a rear-fanged, highly venomous colubrid possessing a potent hemotoxic venom. Its impressive camouflage made it nearly impossible to see until it was right in front of me and its threat display was amazing, inflating its neck to reveal bright skin between its scales. Truly an incredible serpent to behold. That find was followed up quickly with one of our top targets of the trip: a 6+ foot long Forest Cobra (Naja subfulva)! It was the first wild cobra I’ve ever seen and it did not disappoint. Seeing it stand up and look at us was intimidating and exhilarating all at the same time. It is one of the largest species of cobra in the world and possesses a dangerously neurotoxic venom, so needless to say, we were quite careful around this snake.
Day three dawned and while we were ecstatic with the previous day’s finds, I was still eager to find some vipers. I’ve always been a viper guy, and this area’s vipers are (in my opinion) second to none. The day began with a thunderstorm, so we waited for it to stop and then hunted an open area that dried up faster. That proved to be a good decision because we started the day with a Jameson’s Mamba (Dendroaspis jamesoni). Unfortunately, it was in shed, but it was still incredible to see this highly venomous elapid in the wild. After taking some photos, we released the mamba and made our way to another area and a new patch of rainforest. The sun decided to make a lengthy appearance by this time which really began to warm things up, increasing our hope that we would see more snakes out basking. We systematically worked our way through the dense forest, scouring the forest floor and the branches above for different viper species. Before long we were rewarded with our first viper of the trip 9 feet up in a tree: a Rough-scaled Bush Viper (Atheris hispida)! This is truly one of the rarest viper species in the world and seeing one in situ in the wild was mind-blowing. Not only does this species have unique scalation, it also feeds on snails, an unusual diet for a viper. This find really got us excited and increased our anticipation for what the next few days might hold.
The next day started with another great find and top target of the trip: a Variable Bush Viper (Atheris squamigera). I’ve seen this species in zoos before and even interacted with one from a private collection, but seeing one in the wild was a real treat. They are very similar to the Rough-scaled Bush Viper, but larger and stockier and also have a larger range. They have a more generalist diet and so are much easier to keep in captivity. While photographing the “squam,” one of our guides called me to come see what he had found. Not knowing what to expect, but hoping for the best, I ran up to him and he took me to where he had seen a snake. But when we got there, it was gone. What snake was it? Though this guide’s English wasn’t great, he knew all of the local snakes’ Latin names, and I heard him say the word “gabonica.” My heart began racing like nothing else. We scoured the bushes and undergrowth, desperate to catch a glimpse of the almost mythical serpent.
We couldn’t see it anywhere, but unwilling to give up, the guide ventured into an incredibly dense thicket with nothing but a machete and snake tongs. After several tense minutes (though it seemed much longer than that), I heard him yelling something out of the thicket, and our second guide (who was with me) translated, “He is seeing it!” Throwing caution to the wind, I ventured in myself and struggled with all the thick grasses and vines in my way….but nothing would stop me. I finally made it to where the guide was, but still couldn’t see anything. He pointed with the tongs and my eyes went down in that direction, but I still could see nothing besides a pile of dried grass. But in a mere moment, a slightly exposed coil materialized before my eyes.
Right there in front of me was my number one bucket list snake in the world, a massive Gaboon Viper (Bitis gabonica)! Carefully using tools, we moved some of the grasses and exposed the snake, which lay motionless the entire time. I couldn’t believe the size of this snake. Its head was bigger than my fist and its mid-body was the size of my calf, if not bigger. I simply sat there in disbelief. Although many people keeping Gaboon Vipers prefer the West African species due to the larger nose horns, the East African species is my favorite due to its double eye stripe. Getting to spend some time observing and photographing this snake in the wild was a dream come true for me. While I photographed it, it was almost completely motionless, but I was aware that it was closely watching me the entire time. It was truly awesome to share space with this animal.
The next couple of days were filled with a lot of hiking and very little to show for it. We explored some new areas but managed to only turn up one additional snake, a juvenile Blanding’s Tree Snake (Toxicodryas blandingii). This is a mildly venomous, rear-fanged colubrid, although our field guide warned that its venom possesses neurotoxic qualities. We decided to play it safe and avoid getting bitten by this snake.
The following day we drove to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, one of the last remaining strongholds of the endangered Mountain Gorilla. We slept overnight in a tented safari lodge and rose with the sun to eat breakfast and get briefed for our gorilla trekking experience. While some treks take hours to find the particular gorilla family you are tracking, we found ours within 10 minutes of starting the hike! Permits only allow you to spend one hour with the gorilla family, but it was an incredible hour. We saw multiple members of the gorilla family, including several females and youngsters as well as the dominant male silverback. If you ever have the chance to do this, I highly recommend it. Though it isn’t cheap, it is reassuring to know that a good portion of the cost goes to ongoing conservation efforts with the gorillas.
On our way back towards the capital for the end of our herping trip, we had one final chance to see a Rhinoceros Viper (Bitis nasicornis). We had hiked for days in the right habitat with no success, but at the eleventh hour, we finally saw one that was spotted by our guide. Looking for this serpent seems no different than searching for a needle in a haystack and seeing one in the wild was an incredible experience. What a way to end the trip!
I’ve been on the herpetoculture side of things and I love keeping and breeding reptiles in captivity. It is truly exciting to watch reptiles and amphibians thrive, breed, and hatch under our care. But to me, nothing beats seeing the animals we love in their natural habitat. I’ll always enjoy seeing a Gaboon Viper no matter where it is, but nothing will ever compare to crouching down in that steamy, dense thicket in Uganda and seeing a wild one staring back at me.
